


Rescue

by SailorChibi



Series: The Protectors [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Pepper Potts, BAMF Sharon Carter, BAMF shuri, Basically, Betty Ross is tired of the world, Canon-Typical Violence, Fighting, Gen, Hope van Dyne as the Wasp, Hurt Tony, M/M, Oblivious Steve Rogers, Pepper in the rescue armour, Pepper is Rescue, Pepper is awesome, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Protect Tony Stark 2k16, Rescue Missions, Sharon is awesome, Sharon yells a lot, Shuri is awesome, Tony Stark Defense Squad, Tony is a damsel in distress, Women Being Awesome, assumes that the rest of the team is in wakanda, but not for a lack of sharon trying, darcy lewis is taser happy, hurt character, implied laura/clint/natasha, implied tony/t'challa, it's about time someone protected him, laura barton takes no shit, laura is having none of your excuses, marvel women being awesome, no damage was done to steve in the making of this story, not kind to steve rogers, pepper potts appreciation, protect tony stark, sharon carter appreciation, sharon carter is taking none of your shit, she's especially tired of her father, steve deserves it, tony is loved by lots of people, tony stark protects everyone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-04
Updated: 2016-09-04
Packaged: 2018-08-13 01:12:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7956352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorChibi/pseuds/SailorChibi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On a sunny, warm day in late August, Sharon Carter stormed out onto the balcony where Steve, Clint and Sam were having a late morning breakfast, drew her pistol and fired.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rescue

**Author's Note:**

> I started this after seeing a few Sharon appreciation posts on tumblr. Most fics where she makes an appearance have her siding with Steve. I wanted to explore something different.
> 
> I started writing this a while ago and it's been a hard finish. It being my first time writing several of these characters probably had something to do with it.

On a sunny, warm day in late August, Sharon Carter stormed out onto the balcony where Steve, Clint and Sam were having a late morning breakfast, drew her pistol and fired.

The bullet grazed Steve's shoulder, opening up a thin line of pain. Instinct drove him to move, dropping the hand he'd raised in greeting and grabbing the ornate silver tray their breakfast had been served on to use it as a shield for the handful of bullets that followed. The tray had to have been inlaid with something else - vibranium, maybe - because it actually worked, though barely. Half a dozen deep dents were less than an inch away from Steve's face, and underlying the shock was the sense of déjà vu.

Very slowly, knowing that Sharon potentially had at least four to five bullets left in the magazine, he lowered the tray to stare at her. Clint and Sam had ducked and rolled the instant the shooting started, and were now hiding - Clint behind the table, and Sam behind a potted plant. Sharon didn't look at either of them; her target was Steve. She was breathing heavily, probably from a sprint up the stairs, but otherwise seemed calm. Well, as calm as someone could be when they had murder written all over their face.

Steve had exactly enough time to say "Sharon, what the -" before she stalked forward.

"Shut. Up," she snarled, shoving the gun in his face. 

Over her shoulder, Steve caught sight of Natasha and Wanda. He looked at them a little frantically, but neither woman made any move to sound the alarm or even to pull Sharon away. In fact, when Sam got to his feet and started to step forward, Natasha reached out a hand to stop him. She was watching Sharon and Steve. Wanda glanced at her, but stayed back. Clint's head appeared over the top of the table, but he stayed where he was. 

"Sharon -" Steve tried again.

"I said shut up and I meant it. I'm not above discharging the rest of these bullets into your face," Sharon warned. "You're going to listen to me, Steve. Nod your head if you understand."

Steve nodded, wondering if someone had gotten to her. Maybe this wasn't really Sharon Carter.

"I helped you because I didn't want to see you end up behind bars. At your core, underneath everything else, I believe you're a good person. Aunt Peggy loved you, and she was the best judge of character I've ever known. And you're lucky. You are so _fucking_ lucky that she's dead. Because if she wasn't, she wouldn't have given you the courtesy of a warning shot."

He opened his mouth. Instantly, the pistol jabbed him in the jaw. 

"Don't," Sharon said. "You fucked up. And now you're going to fix it. Wanda."

At the sound of her name, Wanda stepped forward. She was holding a tablet, Steve realized. Sharon leaned back and typed something onto the screen. It flickered, filled with static, then snapped into focus. Steve's breath caught. It was the Raft, specifically the cell where Sam had been housed. There was a new occupant. A very familiar, very beat-up occupant. 

It was Tony.

"What the hell," Natasha hissed. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"You wish," said Sharon. "Did any of you, during your crusade, ever stop to think about what might happen to the people you left behind?" She pressed the pistol a little harder to Steve's jaw, digging it in. "Did you ever think that maybe General Ross might take his anger out on your families? Your loved ones?"

Clint shot up then. Scott, dressed in uniform, appeared next to him. They were both clamoring until Sharon yanked the pistol away from Steve and shot into the air to silence them. In the sudden silence, she spoke. 

"Your families are fine, no thanks to either of you. _Tony_ protected them. He smuggled them out of their houses and took them to a safe place out of Ross's reach."

"It's the least he could do," Clint muttered. It was the wrong thing to say.

In an instant, Sharon was out of Steve's face and into Clint's. "You think that's funny?" she growled. 

"I think that Stark deserves a taste of what he gave to everyone else."

"Oh really? You're a funny man, Mr. Barton. You've never had any problem taking advantage of Tony. You took his money, his connections, his tools. You let him think you were friends. And when he needed you, you walked away."

"He locked me up!" Clint spat. "He locked all of us up. The Accords -"

"The Accords were never what Tony wanted!" Sharon yelled in his face. "You all seem to be under the impression that Tony Stark was the one who came up with the Accords, who babied them along, who tried to force your hand into signing. He was trying to _protect_ you from the 117 countries who created the Accords in the first place. Did you even look at them? Did you research them? Did you know that it took Tony and his whole team of lawyers months to change the original Accords away from the death sentence they were in the first place? Months to change things to the point where you were the ones who had control?"

She whirled away, her anger redirecting itself back to Steve. "Did you know that Tony has turned himself inside out trying to protect all of you? Did you know that he's spent millions of dollars trying to make amends for the damage? Millions of his own personal money, and I realize that you all think that he's a billionaire so it doesn't matter, but let me be the first to tell you that money doesn't grow on trees. Even a man like Tony has limited resources. And you were fully prepared to just drain him dry."

"That's not true," Steve said, finally getting over his shock and flipping to anger. "Tony refused to listen. He locked Wanda up. He tried to kill Bucky -"

"You are such a hypocrite, but let's deal with that in a minute. Tony put Wanda under house arrest for her own safety," Sharon said icily. She turned to Wanda. "It was in your best interests. You must realize what the public opinion of you was after Sokovia. There were many people who wanted your blood, but even more than that they wanted to provoke you into the kind of display that would mean you'd never see the light of day again. Tony was trying to prevent that; he wanted to redesign your image, prove to people that you weren't dangerous. Of course, he didn't realize that your own teammates would betray that more effectively than anyone else." She shot Clint and Steve a poisonous look. 

"I didn't know," Wanda said softly, frowning. "No one told me that..."

"Did you ask?" Sharon said.

Wanda looked away. "No."

"No. You were just a stupid little kid, caught up in thinking the worst of Tony."

"Hey," Steve said, anger growing. "Don't talk to her like that."

"I'll talk to her any way I please," Sharon shot back. "Until she grows up. Until you grow up. God damn it, Steve! I gave you back the shield because I thought you were going to do something good. Something worthwhile. If I'd known how stupid you were going to be! You used the shield against a civilian!"

"He was trying to kill Bucky!"

"Because Zemo showed that civilian, who suffers from PTSD, footage wherein Bucky killed his parents!"

"What?" Sam said. They were all staring at Steve. "You didn't mention that."

Steve tried not to squirm. He'd edited the story to omit that part; he didn't want anyone else to turn against Bucky the way that Tony had. "It wasn't Bucky," he argued. "It was the Winter Soldier. It was Hydra!"

"Steve," Natasha said. There was something horrified etched across her face, something that made Steve uncomfortable. "Tell me that's not what you said to Tony."

Steve said nothing. What could he say?

"Jesus Christ," Sam muttered, putting his face in his hands. 

"You all made mistakes," Sharon said loudly. "But the bottom line is, you all walked away scot-free and left my cousin behind to clean up your mess."

"What?" Steve's head snapped around to her. "Your cousin?"

Sharon looked at him like he was an idiot. "Aunt Peggy was Tony's godmother. I've known him all my life."

"She was -" Steve was reeling. "I didn't know that."

Her mouth hardened into a thin line. "Maybe if you'd taken two seconds to learn something about Tony, instead of just believing all of the wild lies about his reputation, you would have."

"Why didn't he tell me?"

"Would you have listened?" Sharon asked tightly, her grip tightening on the pistol. "Or would you have brushed it off as a ploy to make you feel sorry for him? Or gotten angry because Peggy was yours alone to mourn? Or both." Her expression deepened with contempt. "I regret kissing you. Tony was trying to protect me, but if I'd known even half of what you'd done to him with your arrogant _ignorance_ -"

She was getting mad again, starting to lift the pistol, and Steve wasn't even sure if she had any bullets left in it, but even if the gun was empty she didn't look like she was above braining him with it. He took a cautious step back.

Clint cleared his throat. "You can say whatever you want, but it doesn't absolve Stark."

"After everything he's done for you -" Sharon stopped, drawing herself in with visible effort. "You know what, James told me what happened. I managed to get the rest of the story out of Tony before Ross came looking for him. And let me just say, you all seem to spit on Tony for collaborating with Ross. But you have no idea just how long he's saved your butts for. Ross wanted to throw you all in the Raft right from the start, but Tony stopped him. He's done so much and none of you even _know_ because you don't care.

"The bottom line is, you don't get to just say no when you're an adult. That's not life works. You have to _compromise_." Her glare cut Steve deep. "And as I understand it, Tony was the one who's been trying to compromise this whole damn time. You were the ones who didn't want to listen, who just said no and damn the consequences. Then Tony was left trying to scramble around to cover your asses and protect you from everything. If you ask me, he _should_ have let you get thrown in the Raft. And he should have given you up when Ross demanded it instead of taking the blame. You deserved it. You don't just get to do whatever you want no matter who you are. Something all of you clearly know nothing about."

She took a step back from Steve, shaking her head. "I came here under Fury's advisement, hoping to get some extra help. Now I realize that was a waste of time. Wanting help from a bunch of sanctimonious, arrogant assholes was stupid on my part. We'll rescue Tony. But if you come near him again -"

"I'll help," Scott said. Steve startled and looked at him. Scott shrugged at him. "Cassie is everything to me. If Stark really protected her, then I owe him."

"He did," Sharon said. "I have proof. But I'm not sure I want your help now."

"You're getting it anyway," Natasha said.

"Tasha," Clint said.

The look Natasha gave him was enough to make Steve wince. "I'm helping," she said. "And if you still want to be my friend, you'll do the same."

"We all will," Steve said, numb to his core. It was hard to believe everything Sharon had said, but if even a fraction of it was true - he was getting a bad feeling. A really bad feeling. None of it excused what Tony had done to Bucky, but...

Sharon gave him a hard look. "I'm warning you now. All of you," she added, including Sam and Wanda in her glare. "Tony's been through enough. He needs support. If you don't think you can at least do him the courtesy of keeping your mouth shut around him, then stay here. It will be for your own safety."

Very slowly and deliberately, she removed another magazine from her pocket and slid it into the pistol. "I'm shooting the first person who says _anything_ to make him feel bad."

"I like you," Natasha said unexpectedly, a small smirk on her face. "When do we leave?"

"Right now. You've all got ten minutes to get your butts to the roof of the castle or we're leaving without you."

We're? Steve wondered at the phrasing, but he was too busy snapping into gear to ask. He followed Sam and Clint down the hall and jogged into his own room, quickly stripping off his civilian clothing and pulling the Captain America uniform on. T'Challa had it repaired (and improved, a little, if Steve was being honest) after all the fighting was over; sometimes, Steve could hardly believe that it was the same uniform that had been falling off him in tatters when he staggered into the castle in the first place. 

He met the rest of the team in the hallway and they fell into single file, trotting up the stairs towards the roof. There was a familiar quinjet waiting for them. Steve winced at seeing it, instantly remembering dozens of trips with the rest of the team. Clint was always in the pilot's seat; Bruce and Natasha would be securely strapped in, while Steve usually paced around yelling at Thor and Iron Man through their communicators. Well, more so Iron Man than Thor, if only because Iron Man was the one who was notorious for completely ignoring Steve's commands. 

Those were simpler days. Steve wasn't ashamed to say a part of him missed them.

Sharon was waiting for them on the launch pad. She turned without saying a word and slid the door open. Much to Steve's surprise, the jet wasn't as empty as he was expecting. A handful of women looked up, some of them familiar. Pepper Potts was particularly recognizeable, though the suit of armor she was wearing was less so. Steve stopped short and stared at the red and silver suit with the familiar blue glow at its core, right between her breasts. He stared until Sam walked into him hard enough to make him stumble forward.

"Get out of the way, Steve," Sam said, a little exasperated, and moved aside to let the rest of the team in.

"Hope?" Scott said, sounding surprised.

At the same time, Clint exclaimed, "Laura?"

"Shut the door, Clint," Laura Barton said, sweet but steely. Silently, Clint obeyed.

"Let's get one thing straight," Pepper said, folding her arms. "The only reason we're here is because you broke into the Raft once before. And because of Tony." She muttered something under her breath that not even Steve's super solider hearing could make out. 

"Wait, what?" Clint said, staring at his wife. "Laura?"

"Hope?" Scott repeated.

"You're an idiot," one of the women said. She was tall and slender, with short, dark hair. She cast them all a cool look, eyes lingering on Steve before skipping back to Scott. "Hope van Dyne. I'd say it was a pleasure to meet you, but frankly I would be lying."

"Darcy Lewis," piped up another, who looked vaguely familiar to Steve. "And let me just say, I'm excited enough for all of us."

"Betty Ross," said the last.

"Ross?" Steve said, focusing in on her immediately.

"General Ross is my father." There was something very cold about the way she said it. A shiver ran down Steve's spine.

"Okay, what is going on here?" Sam said, crossing his arms. "I think you owe us an explanation."

Pepper visibly swelled with anger, looking like she was seconds from launching a repulsor blast into Sam's face. Betty put a restraining hand on her arm. 

Sharon said, "We don't _owe_ you anything. If you don't want to help, now's your chance to leave. Otherwise, sit down, buckle up, and shut up."

"I'm not going anywhere until you explain to me why you're here," said Clint.

"Oh, you want to know?" Laura said, still sweet. "I'll tell you why. Funny thing happened about six weeks ago. I was wandering around the farm, trying to figure out what I was supposed to do now that my husband was an internationally wanted criminal. Then, one morning, there was a knock on my door. You can imagine what went through my head. I was half-convinced that instead of answering, I should just grab the kids and make a run for it. God knows no one was keeping me up to date." Her eyes were shooting daggers at a very pale Clint.

"But I'm grateful that I did, because Tony Stark was standing there. I was pretty surprised to see him, based on what I'd seen about him the news. At first I was scared. I was positive that he was there to cause trouble. Instead, it turns out that Tony was there to _save_ us. He was minutes ahead of the army, who had orders from General Ross to officially detain us." 

"Laura..." Clint whispered, taking a step towards her. She threw a hand up to stop him.

"They wanted to arrest our children, Clinton. My _babies_. Do you have any idea what could've happened to us? Tony got us out of there just in time and took us back to his tower in New York. We've been staying there ever since, unable to even leave the tower, because he had no safe way of getting us to Wakanda. And do you know _why_? Because Ross has been full-on harassing him ever since, stalking him and monitoring his every activity."

"Laura, honey, believe me, I didn't -"

"Don't call me that," Laura hissed. "You have so much to make up for, you don't even know." She glared at Clint, who visibly quailed. "Come on. Let's go talk in private, _sweetheart_." She stalked into the back of the quinjet. Clint looked a little like a man walking to his doom as he followed, and the fierce whispering that broke out made Steve deeply glad he wasn't Clint at the moment.

In the wake of the awkward silence that followed, Hope looked at Scott and offered, "Stark tried to protect me too. He got to Cassie first, of course. She, Maggie and Jim are at Stark Tower as well. Then he came to me." She smiled thinly. "My father was too biased to even think about accepting Stark's offer of help, and I don't really need it. Ross can't hurt me. But he still offered."

"I thought your father and Stark hated each other," said Scott, frowning.

Hope nodded. "I thought the same thing. Turns out maybe it was mostly one-sided," she said, too quietly. "Or maybe Stark is just a good enough man to overlook something that's ultimately trivial where it counts the most. Either way, when I found out that Ross had taken him I wanted to help."

"I was just hanging around the tower," Darcy volunteered. "We were there first, before everyone else. He and Jane started doing science together. Do you know what it's like to have to take care of two scientists?" She shook her head dramatically. "It was worth it, though. He started upgrading my tasers." Her face lit up with an unholy glee. "I can't wait to test them. Jane volunteered to hold things down at the tower, but there was no way I was missing out on this."

"And you?" Natasha had been quiet until now, but she was looking at Betty. "Did you find Bruce?"

"No," Betty said, meeting her gaze. There was an unspoken tension between them that Steve didn't understand. "But then, I wasn't looking for him. I was more interested in everything that's been happening."

"Did Tony ask you to come to the tower too?" Natasha asked.

Betty shook her head. "I showed up on my own after I saw the news. We talked. He offered me a place to stay." She looked out the window, gaze distant, apparently having lost interest in the conversation. Natasha frowned, but didn't push the issue.

Sharon moved over and sat down next to Betty, crossing one long leg over the other. She pointedly did not look at Steve. The awkwardness mounted until Steve, a little lost, turned to Sam for help. Sam shrugged back at him, wrapping an arm around Wanda's shoulders. She'd been largely silent up until now, and Steve was a little concerned about the lost expression on her face. But Wanda was a private person, and now wasn't the time to press. He settled for moving closer to Pepper.

"Miss Potts," he began.

"Don't," Pepper said, cutting him off. "I don't want to hear it."

"But -"

"No. I said I don't want to hear it and I meant it. You _left_ him, Steve. You left him behind like a piece of garbage, and then you had the pure gall to send him that letter with the worst non-apology I've ever heard." Pepper's voice was cutting. "You call yourself a leader, but you're not. Leaders don't leave their men behind, Captain. Leaders don't prioritize certain members of their team over others. The only thing you cared about all this time was Barnes."

"He's my -"

"Friend, I know. I heard."

"I didn't have a choice," Steve tried.

"If I've learned one thing in all my years of running a business, it's that the only people who say that are the ones who made the wrong choice," Pepper said. She clearly considered the conversation finished; she turned away from him and moved towards the front of the plane to join the pilot. Steve considered chasing after her, but he wasn't sure he wouldn't end up being thrown out of the plane. Tony's Iron Man armor would've been strong enough to do it, so there was no reason not to think that Pepper's armor wouldn't be capable of the same.

Pepper's armor. Where on earth had Tony gotten that from? Why had Pepper donned it? She hated the armor, it was one of the reasons she and Tony had broken up.

"I don't understand any of this," he muttered at Sam, sitting down beside him and Wanda.

Sam shrugged. "Frankly speaking, I don't think we're owed any explanations at this point."

Steve frowned. "That's not true. It's no way to run a mission, leaving half the team in the dark -"

"The team," Betty said, not looking away from the window, "completely understands."

It took a moment for her meaning to sink in, and when it did Steve flushed. She was implying that he - that Sam, Wanda, Clint, Natasha and Scott - weren't a part of the team anymore. Or at least, not a part of _this_ team. It wasn't a surprise, or at least it shouldn't have been, yet the knowledge sat cold in Steve's stomach.

Laura came striding out of the back a few minutes later. One look at Clint told Steve exactly why Laura, a civilian, had been invited along: Clint looked thoroughly cowed, almost stunned, as he sank down beside Natasha. Laura sat down primly on the other side of Natasha and shot Natasha a look that was only a shade warmer than the one she'd given Clint. In response - Steve couldn't believe his eyes - Natasha sank down a little into her seat. He hadn't thought anyone capable of taming Clint, much less Natasha, but the truth was smack dab in front of his eyes.

The rest of the ride was spent in silence, albeit a tense one, broken only by the low sound of Hope's and Scott's conversation. They seemed to be the only people on the whole plane who weren't at odds with one another. Steve envied them. He couldn't stand this constant, low level fury coming at him from all sides, but he couldn't think of how to make Sharon, Betty, Darcy, Hope or Pepper understand that he'd made the right choice. The best choice, for all involved. Tony was going to kill Bucky and Steve had stopped him. Didn't that count for anything?

Sam joined them, after a few minutes, providing detail about the blueprints of the Raft that Scott had forgotten or didn't have. Steve, though, clearly wasn't wanted. He ground his teeth together and stayed where he was, beside Wanda.

When the plane started to lower, indicating that they were coming in for a landing, Steve couldn't help a quiet sigh of relief. Sam shot him an amused look, which Steve ignored. He was ready to start doing his job. Much to his surprise, though, when he went to roll to his feet, Darcy turned to him and, with a bright smile, said, "If you move one more inch, I'm going to test my tasers out on you."

Steve froze. "You can't do that."

"Watch me." She smiled wider. She had a lot of teeth.

"I thought we were here to help," Wanda said quietly, speaking her first words since she'd stepped onto the plane.

"Nope," Darcy said, taking clear delight in popping the 'p'. "You're here to offer us input in getting into the Raft without being noticed, that's about it. We already have a team in place to rescue Tony. We wouldn't want him to get left behind again." Her eyes lingered pointedly on Steve, who flushed with anger.

"I'm not sitting around here on this plane," he said tightly. Darcy could taser him if she wanted to. It wouldn't slow him down for long.

"Yes, you are," she said, still with that smile. 

The plane landed with a couple of jerks, but Steve kept his footing. "No, I'm not."

"I'm afraid you are, Captain." From the front of the plane, the pilot stood up and turned around. 

"Your highness?" Sam said, shocked.

Shuri smiled politely. "Good evening, Sam," she said. "Captain Rogers, I recommend that you sit down. Right now, your safety and asylum in Wakanda are dependent on you and your team not breaking any more laws. I would truly hate to have to report to my brother that you broke into a high security prison. Again."

"You're breaking in!" Steve said, outraged.

She stared at him in wide eyed puzzlement. "No, I'm not. In fact, right now I'm attending a fundraiser for Wakandan youth."

Steve stared back at her. Behind him, Darcy snorted with laughter.

"Scott and I think that we can take the prison's security features for about ten minutes. Vision and FRIDAY are tackling the code," Hope announced. Steve realized suddenly that she had a phone in her hand. She stood up, rolling her shoulders. Something fluttered about her back, soft and gossamer: wings.

"Darcy, you and Betty stay here with the team. If anyone comes around the plane, you know what to do," Pepper said.

Darcy nodded and held up her taser. "Bombs away."

This was all happening too fast. They really meant to leave him here, while Pepper, Shuri, Sharon, Hope and Scott left the plane. "What about Scott?"

Scott shot him a betrayed look.

Shuri blinked, all innocence. "Mr. Lang? I didn't see him leave. But then, I'm afraid my eyesight isn't as good as yours, Captain. I can't see ants."

Hope wasn't even trying to hide her smile. Scott pumped his fist in the air. They were both gone in less than the blink of an eye, and honestly not even Steve's eyesight was good enough to track them when they were this small until they were standing completely still. 

"Please sit," Shuri said, politely but firmly. "Pepper, Sharon and I won't be gone long."

The three of them went to the door, Sharon drawing her gun. Betty stood up and drifted towards the front of the plane, where she did something complicated to the screen. "You have ten seconds before the cloaking device reactivates and the plane is sealed back up," she said after a moment. 

"Don't even," Laura said, flinging out a hand to point a single finger at Clint, her arm stretched across Natasha's chest. Clint, who'd tensed his muscles, went limp and slumped back against the chair.

Ten seconds was all they needed. Pepper, Sharon and Shuri slipped through a crack in the door; presumably, Scott and Hope - Ant Man and the Wasp - were somewhere with them, possibly hitching a ride. Steve glanced at Sam, saw the nod, and went for it. He sprang across the plane, barely hearing Darcy's squeal of rage and just missing the hooks of a taser, throwing himself out the door before it snapped shut. He landed hard on the rough, concrete ground of the Raft.

"You don't listen terribly well," Shuri said, standing above him with her hands on her hips. "I understand now why my brother finds you so frustrating."

Steve squinted at her, confused.

"Come on, we don't have time to waste," Pepper said. The familiar whine of a charging repulsor made the hair on the back of Steve's neck stand up. 

He got to his feet, a little surprised that Pepper and Shuri weren't angrier that he'd followed them. Maybe they'd expected it. They couldn't really have thought he'd stay behind on the plane when they were launching a rescue mission. Sharon, on the other hand, looked quietly furious. It was a look that Steve was learning to be wary of, mostly because she'd been shooting at him the last time she wore it.

"I'm sorry," he said to her quietly, mindful of their precarious position. "I couldn't just sit there."

Sharon looked him in the eye. "Because it's always about you, isn't it?" she said, and followed Pepper. 

Steve was left to bring up the rear, trailing the three women up to the wall. Shuri took a small glass container from her suit and smashed it against the wall; it flowed like liquid, eating away at the stone. 

"Betty's work," she said when she caught Steve watching. "Truly something to be admired, no?" Her teeth flashed against her brown skin when she grinned. 

"Sure," Steve said, though how quickly the chemical had worked made him a little uneasy. What it could do to human skin...

As if on cue, the Raft was plunged into darkness for the second time in less than six months. The four of them were moving quickly then, paths lit only by the light of the arc reactor in Pepper's armor. Steve heard voices all around them, inmates bellowing and guards shouting in response. It was pure chaos, just like it had been last time, and it worked to their advantage.

Apparently, no one thought anyone would go through the effort of breaking Tony Stark out. He'd been given Clint's old cell. Steve couldn't help the dim flicker of satisfaction at that. Maybe now Tony would know what it was like to be trapped in here, and he might be a little more apologetic towards those he'd locked up.

Then he saw the state of the man on the bed, and Steve immediately felt sick for having thought that.

The footage hadn't prepared him for just how bad things were. In person, Tony looked _terrible_. One arm was bent at a terrible angle. Both legs were clearly broken as well. Every visible bit of skin was bruised, scratched, burned or otherwise married in some way. Shuri, face pinched with rage, used another chemical on the glass that made it melt just like the stone. Steve gagged at the stench that flowed out at them. It smelled like sewage and rot.

"Tony," Sharon whispered, her voice breaking. Pepper looked equally stricken.

"You there! Halt!"

Almost before Steve had registered the word, Pepper turned, aimed and fired a repulsor blast. The guard went flying. Sharon and Shuri leapt into action, entering the small cell and approaching Tony. Steve lost their next movements due to the short-lived battle, but when he turned around again after downing half a dozen guards, Shuri was wrapped a blanket around Tony.

"He's unconscious. We need to move quickly. Pepper?"

Pepper, expression twisted into pure agony, picked Tony up and cradled him like he was something deeply precious. Tony, still unconscious, didn't seem to realize he was safe now; he moaned faintly, like it hurt to be moved, his eyes rolling under his lids. Whatever he was dreaming about, it didn't sound pleasant.

"You put him here."

Steve jumped. Sharon was staring at him. The hatred in her eyes cut deep.

"All you cared about was yourself and your precious Barnes. You didn't care about anyone else. Aunt Peggy would never forgive you," she said in a low voice. "And neither will I. _Ever_."

"Sharon -"

"It's time to move," Shuri said, setting a hand on Sharon's shoulder. The look she gave Steve was utterly devoid of warmth. "Unless you'd like to stay and enjoy the accommodations."

Getting out was just as easy as getting in. Steve should have known something was wrong. Would have known, had he not been so busy staring at Tony and trying to amalgamate the image of this broken man with that of the strong, rage-filled man he'd left behind. For the first time, he started to wonder if maybe the broken version was the real Tony Stark, and whether everything else had just been a mask.

Thaddeus Ross met them outside the Raft, along with easily fifty guards. Steve hadn't see that many guns staring him down for a long time. The one silver lining was that they didn't seem to realize the plane was only thirty feet away, which meant the cloaking device was still working. But all it would take was a handful of stray bullets, and the plane's location would be obvious. 

Of course, then they'd have to deal with Natasha, Clint, Sam and Wanda. But there were also civilians on that plane, Darcy and Betty and Laura. Steve set his jaw.

"I knew it was only a matter of time until someone showed up. I must admit, I never thought it would be you, Rogers," Ross said. "I didn't think you'd have the balls to show your face again. You are officially under arrest by the United States of America. Place your weapons on the ground, get down on your stomach, and place your hands behind your head."

"Not happening," Steve said, tensing. He wished, not for the first time, that he had his shield. T'Challa hadn't provided any of them with weapons; all Steve had was a gun that Natasha had given him, a knife strapped to his ankle, and his own fists.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sharon draw two of her guns, one in each hand. Shuri shifted her weight, stepping protectively in front of Pepper and Tony. 

"I'm not sure where you got the idea that this was optional," said Ross. "You're classified as dangerous and I'm permitted to fire on sight. And that's without taking into consideration that you're breaking someone out of prison."

"Tony wasn't arrested. He shouldn't be here," Sharon said. "You're detaining him illegally. Not to mention the clear torture and inhumane conditions."

Ross shrugged. "Sometimes you have to do whatever's necessary to get the information that you need. He was harboring information about fugitives." His eyes cut to Steve. "He refused to tell me anything, of course, but in the end that didn't really matter. I still have what I want. Captain America's head on a platter. Surrender, Rogers, or I will tell my men to open fire."

As if on cue, some fifty weapons were raised. 

" _Stop_! Don't!"

Ross's mouth snapped shut at the sound of Betty's voice. He swung around, eyes scanning the perimeter with a surprising amount of desperation. Seeing the moment of weakness, Steve started to react - but Shuri got there first. She swept forward, getting a knee around Ross's throat and effortlessly slinging him to the ground. 

The guards opened fire. Steve moved. Red repulsor blasts shot over his head as he took out three guards with a tackle. The crack of bullets echoed through the air from behind him; then the guards started yelling and shooting at each other, and Steve got a glimpse of a tiny figure with wings darting from guard to guard - the Wasp. Ant Man had to be here too, he realized, taking down guards that couldn't even see them.

In less than five minutes, the fifty guards were down. 

"That was pathetic," Shuri said, still pinning Ross to the ground. He was thrashing under her, but she was pinning him easy as you please. She increased the pressure to his throat and he slowly went limp.

"Maybe he was expecting us to surrender," Sharon said, sliding new magazines into her guns. She seemed entirely unconcerned with what had just happened. 

Nothing like this had occurred when Steve broke the others out. Part of him was inclined to think that Ross had just learned a valuable lesson. Another part couldn't help wondering whether Ross had kept Tony here for just that purpose, hoping to lure Steve and the others out. 

And they wouldn't have come. The thought filled him with a flush of shame. He hadn't even known that Tony was here. Hadn't cared. He'd spent the last several weeks convinced that Tony was back in New York, strutting around the tower, largely unaffected by everything. He'd assumed that, on the off chance that something was wrong, the media would broadcast it. 

In retrospect, that was stupid. Tony was a private person for all that he lived his life in the limelight, and the opinion of the public at large was fickle at best. If word got out that Tony had been kidnapped or detained, stock in Stark Industries would plummet. That was the last thing that Tony or Pepper would want. Pepper would have hidden it, telling only a select few. Apparently Steve no longer warranted a place on that list.

Pepper picked up Tony again and turned to face Betty. The plane was visible now, would have been from the moment that Betty opened the door. Betty came down the steps, not sparing a glance for Ross, her lips condensing into a thin frown.

"I've got Helen on the line," she said. "We should hurry. He doesn't look well."

"What should we do about him?" Steve said, nodding to Ross.

Betty's eyes were cold. "Bury him, shoot him, throw him off the cliff for all I care. He's not my father anymore. Bring Tony this way, Pepper."

"Tempting, isn't it?" Shuri said softly, watching Steve knowingly. "To kill him."

"No," Steve lied.

She smiled. "You lie. I can tell. You might tell yourself that your actions are always worthy because of who you are and the costume you wear, but you are still just a man. Don't let the legends other have spun about you affect your thinking. You are no less susceptible to arrogance and hubris than the rest of us."

"I don't want to kill him," Steve said, and stormed after Pepper. Shuri and Sharon brought up the rear. Inside the plane, Pepper had set Tony down on a bed. Betty and Darcy were now fussing over him; Darcy was sitting on the bed with Tony's head in her lap, and she was bent over speaking to him in a low voice, though Steve didn't think Tony was awake.

Shuri ghosted towards the front of the plane. Laura was still standing guard over Clint and Natasha. She looked worried, so did Natasha - surprisingly, even Clint was watching what was going on out of the corner of his eye. The air pressure changed subtly, and Ant Man and the Wasp appeared. 

Steve slunk over to the side, sitting down heavily beside Sam and Wanda. Wanda was watching the proceedings with rapt attention, but Sam leaned over to Steve.

"Everything okay? You look tense."

"It didn't go the way I thought it would," Steve said shortly. He wouldn't have admitted it, not even to Sam, but part of him had thought that Sharon was exaggerating. Even after she'd shown him the footage, he'd thought that maybe it was a lie, that they would enter the Raft and find Tony enjoying a glass of wine with Ross, both of them congratulating themselves on their work. It was too embarrassing to admit that he'd been completely wrong.

"He looks like he's in pretty bad shape," Sam said, testing the waters.

"I'm not a doctor. I don't know."

Another lie.

"Pep?" Tony's hoarse voice drew everyone's attention. Pepper drifted closer, her eyes filling with tears, and Tony said, sounding dazed, "You're wearing the - I thought you hated the Rescue armour."

"I didn't want to have to use it," Pepper corrected, trying to smile. "Oh, Tony, you idiot." Her composure crumbled, a tear spilling over.

"Hey, s'okay, Pep. I'm fine." Tony rolled his head, looking around. His glassy eyes skated over Steve, Sam and Wanda without focusing, past Laura, Clint and Natasha, and settled on Sharon. He smiled hazily, stretching his bruised cheeks grotesquely.

"Hi cuz," Sharon said, finger flexing on the trigger of her gun, like she wished she could use it on someone.

"Hi," Tony said. "Am I dreaming?"

"No, you're not," Shuri called back. "My apologies, Tony, your partner wanted to be here, but couldn't. His presence was required elsewhere today, at a meeting to discuss partnering with S.I., actually."

Sam stiffened, eyes widening slightly.

"T'Challa?" Tony sighed, as though the mention of the king hurt. "I miss him, Shuri."

"I know," Shuri said, voice soothing. "He misses you too. He's going to come and see you as soon as you're home and settled. Pepper and I have already arranged it. Three whole weeks, just the two of you. You'll be begging me to take him back."

Tony and T'Challa? Steve couldn't be hearing this right. But when he looked at Sam, Sam just looked back with raised eyebrows.

"Hmm." Tony made a non-committal sound, eyes drifting shut. He passed out again, head slumping to the side.

"Shuri, faster," Betty said tensely.

"Can we do anything?" Natasha asked.

Pepper wiped her eyes. When she turned, her expression was distinctly cool. "You've all done more than enough, Agent Romanov." She walked towards the front of the plane again, slipping into the seat beside Shuri.

This time, the only sound that disturbed the heavy silence was Betty and Darcy muttering to each other as they worked to make Tony more comfortable. Steve couldn't tear his eyes away. It seemed like the trip took no time at all; he jumped when the plane landed, looking around in confusion as the door was wrenched open. The Vision was hovering outside, Helen Cho at his side.

"Bring him this way," she ordered. "Quickly."

In record time, Tony had been removed from the plane. Darcy, Betty and Pepper went with him. Sharon looked after him longingly, but didn't move. Laura, on the other hand, stood up. Clint grabbed her hand.

"Laura," he said, quiet and desperate.

"You've both made a lot of mistakes," Laura said without looking at him or Natasha. "I'd start thinking about how you're going to atone for them." She shook her hand free and walked off the plane. Hope said something quiet to Scott and followed her.

Steve started to stand, but the door shut behind Laura. He lurched back when the plane started forward.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" he shouted at Shuri. "Let us out!"

"Let you out?" Sharon repeated, raising her eyebrows. "Why?"

"So that I can -"

"You can... what? You have no place here. You walked away. You dropped the shield. You decided to split the team right down the middle. You _caused_ this."

"I didn't -"

"Stop. Just stop," Sharon said, throwing her arms up. "Jesus, what more do you want? Tony has literally given you everything already. There's nothing more for you take. Can't you just give him some peace?"

"You're going back to where you fought so hard to be," Shuri said before Steve could respond, turning to look at them. "With your precious Barnes."

"But Tony..."

"Is not your concern. Not anymore." Shuri's expression was hard and unforgiving, the look of someone who expected obedience and was not afraid to follow through if she didn't receive it. 

Steve opened his mouth and then closed it. There were no words that could be said. If he bashed a hole in the side of the plane right now and tried to jump out, there was no doubt in his mind that Sharon would put a bullet through his brain before he hit the ground. And if he was lucky enough that her shot missed, Shuri sure as hell wouldn't.

Numbly, he sat down. Wanda's small hand crept into his; he held it loosely.

Maybe, just maybe, he'd made a mistake.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](http://tsuki-chibi.tumblr.com/).


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